Curiosity Sees Vast Honeycomb Polygons Wrapping a Martian Valley Grande
TL;DR
NASA's Curiosity rover captured a 360-degree panorama of Valle Grande on Mars, revealing a vast field of honeycomb-textured polygonal rocks that stretch to the horizon and even wrap around a nearby 6-meter-tall butte named Miraflores. Scientists will study the shapes and their chemistry for clues about their formation, with ideas ranging from ancient mud cracks to freeze-thaw cycles or compression-driven water expulsion. This finding adds to Curiosity's long-running work exploring Mars' watery past near Mount Sharp, including detections of organic molecules earlier in the mission.
- Curiosity rover finds field of honeycomb-textured "polygons" Boing Boing
- NASA’s Curiosity Mars Rover Discovers Field of Honeycomb Textures NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) (.gov)
- Curiosity Rover Finds “Sea of Polygons” on Martian Surface Nautilus | Science
- Mars rover discovers honeycomb-like fields on Red Planet NewsNation
- NASA’s Curiosity Rover Discovers Massive Honeycomb-Like Patterns on Mars: ‘Took Our Breath Away’ People.com
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